1. Field of the Invention
This invention is a new process for transferring, under pneumatic vacuum, mineable material to a device capable of separating out values from mineable material.
2. Description of Prior Art
Historically, recovering precious heavy metals and other values from mineable material has been very limited. Processes range from dry panning and rocker screening to placing a shovel full of value bearing mineable material on a blanket and then two men on opposite ends of the blanket toss the material into the air again and again until the wind blows away the lighter material hopefully leaving some value, usually gold, on the blanket. In more modern times we have a number of different types and sizes of dry washers. One example is the popular Model 151 from Keene Engineering, U.S. Pat. No. 4,615,797. This model is usually fed by shovel and bucket. This process is labor intensive and very inefficient.
A few larger dry washers are available, some fed by backhoe type equipment, some fed by a number of people with shovels, but none have shown any real commercial value. From time to time some miners have attempted to haul valve bearing material to a site with water for processing or hauling water or piping and pumping water to the digging site. These operations usually fail.
Until now there has never been an efficient and cost effective way to transfer dry value bearing mineable materials to device for separating out the values.
There is no real prior art to compare this new process to in the mining industry.
This invention has numerous uses and advantages. The parts and components utilized in this process can be stationary or portable, very large or small, and arranged in many different ways. The processing units developed from this invention can be very cost effective, relatively inexpensive to purchase and operate, and profitable to mining operations in previously unprofitable areas. There are many more uses and advantages, too numerous to mention.